As the service sector of the economy has grown, contact centers have become the nerve center of many businesses. A consumer of computer software and hardware peripherals with a conflict between multiple computer programs or devices can call the sales and service department of the computer manufacturer or software company to resolve the interrupt conflict. A purchaser of a 3 horse power induction motor can speak with a technical representative at a contact center to re-configure a motor from a 110 volt wiring to a 220 volt wiring. Many automobile insurance companies have agents on call 24 hours a day to handle insurance claims, or offer proof of insurance when members are stopped by police. Credit card companies often staff agents 24 hours a day to receive reports of lost or stolen credit cards, as well as emergency requests for increased credit limit. Some contact centers are, by their nature, 24 hour-a-day businesses. For example, many airlines have a global presence in major cities throughout the world, and tickets and scheduling are continually taking place around the globe. Phone numbers, often toll free, can connect callers around the globe with ticketing agents for sales, re-scheduling to another flight, information regarding departure, arrival, delays, and missing baggage.
As web-based and web-assisted commerce has grown, many transactions formerly performed over a telephone are conducted over new mediums, including the web, email, and various live-camera conference calls. In many contact centers, the telephone has been replaced by the computer, which can handle standard phone calls by means of an expansion card, and can also provide web access and email access. The term “phone” is not limited to the traditional handset, but can refer to any means of achieving voice communication, including traditional handsets and computers with audio capability. In a traditional contact center limited to standard telephones and phone calls, a private branch exchange (PBX) was typically sufficient to route calls to agents. In a setting comprising twenty agents, a round robin routing scheme could be performed by a PBX. The round robin scheme would receive an incoming call and locate the first available agent, as numbered from one to twenty. If agents one through six were busy on calls, the call would be routed to agent seven. When the next call came in, the PBX would begin by examining the status of agent eight. Alternatively, routing could be prioritized, such that, if agent “one” is available, the incoming call was given to agent one. Only when agent one was busy would the call be routed to another agent. Because phone media, by itself, was not very complex, the routing schemes were also simple.
In addition to the greater flexibility afforded by the multi-format contact center described herein, greater time management can be provided when a multi-format contact center includes real-time media and delayed media options. Most industries experience “peak” client call times, followed by lower demand times. Through a multi-format contact center incorporating real-time assistance such as a phone call or web chat requests, and deferred assistance such as an email response or a voice message, a contact center is able to level the demands placed on agents throughout the day by responding to delayed-response mediums such as email during non-peak hours when incoming live calls are lessened. This has the added advantage of allowing true flexibility beyond projected levels of client contact. For example, projections can suggest that on Monday mornings from 8:00 a.m. to 11:40 a.m. agents will be interacting live because of the volume of incoming real-time calls (telephone, web-assistance, etc), but on a given Monday morning, live incoming calls may be abnormally slow, allowing agents to answer delayed calls such as email questions submitted by clients. The terms “call,” “incoming call,” and “caller” as used herein with respect to the present invention are therefore intended in the broadest sense, including but not limited to traditional telephone calls, web co-navigation, email, visual conferencing and other electro-optical communication mediums. Throughout this disclosure, examples specifically reference a telephone call, or variously refer to a telephone or to a computer. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the same principles apply to other contact methods, and that the example is not offered to limit the present invention.